Cape Tech Crusaders counting on experience

Tuesday

With a solid core of returning players, including 12 seniors, and coming off a good summer of off-season workouts, it looks like this could be the year for the Cape Cod Tech football team.

“We had a lot of juniors out there last year. We’ve been excited about them for the last few years, and now they’re seniors,” said Cape Tech coach Chris Leonard.

And in addition to getting in the weight room, the team participated in a four-day football camp with Mashpee, Sandwich, and Old Rochester.

“It was the first time we ever did a football camp. We got some good work in and we were in the seven-on-seven league, so right now we are much further along than we were at this time last season. And that’s good to see,” said Leonard.

Last year, the Crusaders finished with a 4-6 record, but were in the hunt for the Mayflower Small Vocational title until the last game of the regular season.

With a 3-3 record, they needed to beat Old Colony to clinch a three-way tie for first place in the league and a berth in the MIAA Division 8 tournament. But that was not to be, and old Colony went on to become the league champs.

The year before that, in 2016, Cape Tech was, again, in the mix but a couple of late season losses knocked it out of contention and the team finished with a 3-7 record. But that was a lot better than the previous year when this year’s seniors were freshmen and Cape Tech won just one game, finishing at 1-9.

“It’s been a progression for those kids who have been here. At first we had to scratch to get a team together. Then we were able to compete. And then we were able to win a few games,” said Leonard.

Now the Crusaders, Leonard feels, are at the point where they can make a run for the league title, compete in the playoffs and possibly get a shot at the Super Bowl.

“Our kids are very excited,” Leonard said.

Last Saturday’s scrimmage was very encouraging as the team played very well on defense and was able to mix in some passing to go along with its triple option running attack offense.

“Our defensive ends—Trevor Castillas, a senior and three-year varsity starter, and Richardson Pierre, another of the 12 seniors on the team—played really physical,” said Leonard.

And his smaller but faster line backing corps this year of senior Peyton Walker, junior Kyle Chase, and senior Zack Higgins also played well.

“It was good to see how they did, especially with a good defensive line in front of them,” said Leonard.

Cape Tech has some experience in the secondary with senior Jaun Camillo at safety, and junior Ryan Forrest at cornerback played a lot last year. A big positive on offense was the passing game.

“We were able to throw the ball, something we struggled with in the past,” Leonard said.

At quarterback was four-year varsity letterman, Archer Estinville. A former running back he made the switch to quarterback and will be a major threat in the triple option offense.

“He’s our player; he’s the guy,” said Leonard.

However, Higgins, whom Leonard never thought would be a varsity quarterback, worked hard in the offseason and has been able to provide some competition at that position. In the scrimmage, Leonard was pleased with the other backs as well.

“Our young running backs really stepped up. They hit the holes hard. To show some success with it (the running game) was nice,” Leonard said.

Kiki Estinville, a junior who played a lot last year, is one of the running backs and Chase, in addition to playing linebacker, is another. And there are some experienced big guys up front who can block for them. Chris Elkins, another 3-year varsity letterman, is at right guard and is Cape Tech’s best offensive lineman. Senior Ed Hollis, who played left guard last year will move to center and junior Tim Eldridge will be at right tackle.

“We were a power running team last year. We have a faster backfield this year, and when you run the triple option, speed kills,” Leonard said.

So Leonard is feeling confident going into the first three games of the season.

Cape Tech opens the season next week at Monomoy. Last year, the Crusaders started against Monomoy and lost 20-0.

“We were not really ready for that game last year,’ Leonard said.

But then they came back and beat Upper Cape Tech in a league game, 14-6, and on Thanksgiving Day they ended the season by beating Upper Cape Tech a second time, 34-6.

“We really put it together in that last game. We blew the doors off,” said Leonard.

The Crusaders are hoping to carry that momentum into the opener and then into the second week when they, again, play Upper Cape Tech at home. The big challenge will come early this season when Cape Tech travels to play defending league champion Old Colony in the third week.

While it is more difficult to face a really good team early in the season, Leonard is optimistic.

“Hopefully we’ll go in there healthy,” he said.

And that’s one of the challenges this year with a smaller team of just 29 players.

“We lack depth. We had a few little injuries going into the scrimmage and we had to play a whole new offensive line,” Leonard said. “So we’ve got to stay healthy and get a little luck.”